Soft decline

Soft declines come from conditions that can change: not enough money on the account today, a spending limit reached, a temporary block by the issuer, or a technical problem. The card itself is still valid.

They are the main target of payment retries. Retrying at a better moment, for example after payday or once the issuer’s system is back, often succeeds without the customer doing anything. Some soft declines also need the customer to authenticate the payment, as with Strong Customer Authentication in Europe.

Retries still have limits set by the card networks, and the decline code or advice code should guide when to retry. If several retries fail, ask the customer to update their payment method.